got through my first unsatisfactory lesson

[Daniel L]

Thursday was tough. The plan was to go to our local towered to do pattern work. it was a challenging day with gusts and heavy thermal action.

I consistently skipped my checklist in every phase but one. i never corrected my compass to match the magnetic so i was off a considerable degree. I never set the altimeter. Other than that my flying was perfect.

So after we went back to his office, i knew i was in for an ass chewing when he grabbed a beer for us both. It was a good hour. our scheduled ground session for saturday was postponed. he said we are going to repeat the lesson when i can demonstrate that my fundamentals are there. And saturday was supposed to be a three hour ground session on navigation. He said it would be an uphill battle going through the process of planning a flight and carrying the flight out safely if i'm not doing the fundamental items. i completely wholeheartedly agree. And I felt so down after that. We through a small bout of depression that night. The next two days were spent with some intense chair flying in my den. I promised myself that I wasn't going to fail again. This was stupid. How on earth could I forget something as simple as doing my checklists at each phase? I wasn't even switching my fuel tanks.

I cant even use the excuse that the conditions were stressful because, in reality, I was having a blast. I love crosswind landings, the challenge gets my blood going. And when I land on centerline...

So we took off Saturday morning and demonstrated a solid routine. I told myself that my CFI is never going to chew me out again. But the lesson didn't go as he'd like. Our towered airport had a 1000 ft ceiling overcast. So, he looked at me and asked 'would you like to do an instrument approach?'

Wow what fun that was. He handled the comms and I carried out the flight. I'm just glad that I had cloud ahoy running on my phone and recorded the whole thing.

The cloud layer was 1400 ft thick so it was a good while through clouds. I got my first sensation of flying in clouds. It is deceiving. While we were flying level, it felt like we were on a left bank. But, I trusted the instruments. We had some pretty decent side winds blowing me off the glideslope.

But once we broke through the clouds, how impressive it is to see a runway smack in front of me.

The landing was a greaser. We departed to the east and I navigated us back to the airport.

Now, that didnt go as I wanted becasue I was so hyperfocused on the clouds (thinking it was overcast). When I realized that i had to wake up and know that the routine getting back to home base is the same regardless of the clouds.

I had no view of the ground so used the garmin and, as I approached, found a big enough hole in the lcouse to punch through to get into the 45 downwind for 31.

We landed and he said to drop him off and to do an hour solo.

I did another 5 in the pattern before I settled for the day. A good three hours of flying.

So Friday we meet for navigation training. I'm in section 15 of the phak to prepare and... We will be planning our cross coutnry flight that will take us into the evening. Finally we get to do flight planning.

I knew progress was being made with my solo flights (done 4 so far) but it's now hitting me.

I got to log .3 hours of actual.

If anyone's curious about cloud ahoy, it's a great tool. I recommend it.

Sent from my big plastic brick.

 

[Twin_Flyer]

Just so you know that’s the way the flying gods keep you honest. You’ll have two or three more days like that before you’re done. Hang in there and fly safe.

 

[mscard88]

Keep at it. When you recognize your mistakes, and correct them, you're on your way to becoming a pilot. As Twin Flyer said, you'll have good days and not so good days. Don't let them discourage you.

 

[denverpilot]

So after we went back to his office, i knew i was in for an ass chewing when he grabbed a beer for us both.

...

I promised myself that I wasn't going to fail again.

LOL. Now I’m jealous. Never had post-flight beer for a tough debrief. Hahaha.

As far as that last part goes, I’m just sitting here laughing. He’s got your number and figured out what motivates you.

Now the real work begins. Hahahahaha.

But on a more serious note, if you’re motivated by guilt (and many are!) you’ll have a few more days like that one throughout your flying lifetime.

It’s good to get humbled by dumb stuff like forgetting to use checklists and actually seeing the outcome of that sneaky bad habit, once in a while.

It’s also okay to pat yourself on the back a little when you fix it. Don’t forget that part.

In a safe environment where nobody gets hurt and your instructor hands you a beer and then chews your butt lightly?

That’s just bonus points for style, right there!

I don’t think I’d have the guts to hand anyone a beer after a lesson these days... way too many busybodies who’d make it their life’s mission to find some bureaucrat who wouldn’t like that.

You’d really have to know your student pretty well to know that one wasn’t going to boomerang back and smack you in the back of the head.

Especially with Hollywood’s hard on for making jokes pilots and substance abuse, when the vast majority of pilots wouldn’t even think about it.